UN: Report from the Special Rapporteur

UN: Situation concerning the exhumation of Hmong graves at Wat Tham Krabok

“The Special Rapporteur again urges the Government of Thailand to engage the Hmong community to resolve this situation and he expresses his willingness to aid in the resolution process to ensure compliance with international legal norms. He reiterates his call to the Government to take appropriate steps to remedy the situation, including: 1) acknowledging the harm the Hmong community has suffered, and expressing a commitment to not allow similar exhumations of Hmong graves in the future; 2) urging the abbot of Wat Tham Krabok to issue an apology for past desecrations; and 3) ensuring the re-burial at Wat Tham Krabok of the 211 bodies of Hmong people still located at Hulin cemetery.” … Continue Reading

United Nations expert to hear testimony from Hmong families grave desecration in Thailand

MEDIA NOTE: Testimony will begin at 10 a.m. and witnesses will be made available for media interviews between 1:15 and 1:45 p.m. in 324 Coffman Union. Contacts: Kelly O’Brien, College of Liberal Arts, (612) 624-4109, obrie136@umn.edu Ryan Maus, University News Service, (612) 624-1690, maus@umn.edu

Family members of Hmong people whose graves were desecrated in Thailand in 2005 will call upon a United Nations official to recognize a violation of human rights in a hearing at the University of Minnesota from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10 in Coffman Union Theater, 300 Washington Ave. S.E., Minneapolis.

The Dec. 10 hearing will feature testimony from family members, experts on Hmong culture and students who have been working on the grave desecration issue. The Hmong community will petition United Nations Special Rapporteur James Anaya to use his authority to formulate recommendations that will prevent further desecration of indigenous grave sites and remedy the violations against the Hmong community. … Continue Reading

Group gathers testimony on Hmong grave desecration

St. Paul, Minn. — A Hmong organization collected testimony in St. Paul Sunday on the desecration of Hmong grave sites in Thailand. The Minnesota chapter of the National Hmong Grave Desecration Committee is gathering the testimony in preparation for a national conference in North Carolina later this month.

The bodies were dug up without the permission of relatives and many were then cremated without authorization. The graves were located in a traditional Hmong cemetery near the Buddhist temple in Thailand where many of the families had once lived as refugees. … Continue Reading